Finger tip shield and applicator



P 1951 w R. JUSTUS 2,569,381

FINGER TIP SHIELD AND APPLICATOR Filed April 12, 1947 INVENTOR WILLIAM R. JUSTUS ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 25, 1951 an mus-o S'TATZE' i PATENT OFFICE I 2,569,381 FINGER TIP SHIELD AND APPLICATOB William"R. Justus, :Chicago, Ill. Application April-12, 1947, Serial No. 741,131,

2 Claims. (01.155227) This invention relates to lipstick spreaders and applicators, and particularly to such devices in the nature of a finger tip shield for use in spreading and trimming lipstick, after it has been applied, without soiling the users fingers.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved finger tip shield which, when on the users finger, may be used for Spreading and trimming lipstick after it has been applied to the users lips; to provide such a device that .is small and readily disposable after each-use; to provide such a device that can easily be packaged and kept sanitary until use; to provide an improved finger tip shield. made of cheap disposable material and which will fit the ball end of the users finger firmly for more efiicient use in operation; and to provide such a device that can be readily applied to the finger without handling and which can be easily and quickly removed for disposal.

A specific embodiment of. this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of the device as applied to a users finger.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the device, enlarged and partly broken away as on line 2-2 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of thesame.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the same as taken on line 55 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 6 is a View showing a plurality of the devices nested for packing.

In the form shown in the drawings, the improved finger tip shield or applicator, comprises a cap-like member formed to fit over and enclose the ball tip of the users finger, leaving the finger nail exposed, and having means engaging the sides of the finger at the margins of the nail by which the shield is held in place on the finger tip. The shield body is rounded and is substantially in the shape of a quarter section of a hollow sphere, adapted to receive the ball end of the finger in firm contact with the inner surface of the shield body, so that the massaging, spreading and trimming operation on the users lips can be accomplished without displacing the shield from the finger tip, and with the same facility as though the user had wrapped the finger tip in a cloth or paper tissue, as is usually done.

As shown, the quarter-sphere-shaped hollow body I has open ends 2 and 3, the openings of which merge or extend one to the other, into which the ball end of the finger is inserted and through which the finger nail may project when the body I is securely positioned on the finger tip. The margin of the wall bounding the top or upwardly. opening, end 3 is provided with .an inwardly projecting -flange 4 extending from 'the edges ofthe wall and adapted to rest ,upon the fieshy part of the finger at the .sides of the finger nail, and to fit underneath the finger nail at the end of the finger. The wall bounding the laterally opening end .2 .of the body I is provided withan outwardly projecting bead 5 formed in the .margin of the wall on each side of the body, which bead provides a shoulder 6 that is directed toward the forward'o'r rounded portion of the body.

Also, the finger shield is so shaped that the .sides of the body, extending inthe direction of the open end .2, taper outwardly and extend a short distance beyond the center of the curvature of the main portion of the body to facilitate nesting a plurality of the shields, one within another, for packing purposes, as shown in Fig. 6.

The bead 5 serves a dual function in that it provides the shoulder 6 which spaces the nested shields so that their rounded ends are separated a distance equivalent to the width of the bead, or from the shoulder 5 to the edge of the opening 2, so as to prevent the shields from being jammed so tightly, when nested together, that they might stick to one another and make removal from the nested column or stack difiicult. The other function of the head 5 is to serve as a means by which the shield can be quickly and easily removed from the finger tip, the user grasping the shield by the beaded portions to pull it ofi the finger tip, or using the finger nail or side of an adjacent finger, such as the thumb, to push or fiick the shield off the finger on which it is used.

In use, it is intended that the shield will be applied to the finger by inserting the end of the finger into the first shield of a nested column or stack through the open end 2, with the finger nail extending through the top opening 3 so that the end of the nail will overhang the rounded portion of the flange 4 when the shield is firmly on the finger tip. Thus, since the openings 2 and 3 merge, there is no interference of the nail with the shield when the shield is being applied to the finger or during its use as a massaging or spreading means covering the ball end of the finger.

The improved finger shield may be made of any suitable material which will have a surface texture suitable for the massaging or spreading operation. Preferably the shield will be made from a fibrous material such as paper, or other fabric having enough stiifness to maintain its shape. A

soft textured material formed from loosely matted cellulose fibers is one kind that may be used, or the shield may be pressed or molded directly from a suitable paper stock.

The main-advantages of this invention reside in the simplicity of its form and in its arrangement whereby it can be easily applied to the end of the finger without handling and can be readily removed from the end of the finger as by a flicking of one finger against the other. Other advantages reside in the fact that the shield can be maintained in sanitary condition through packaging in nested form and is readily dis posable; immediately after use. Further advantages are to be found in the small amount of material utilized in the shield and in the fact that its cost is so small that one time use and immediate disposal thereafter will be economically feasible and desirable. And still further advantages are to be found in that; the shields when nested occupy such a small space that a relatively large number may be contained in a package or a dispenser, that is substantially the same size as an ordinary lip stick, and hence easily carried in a purse or handbag.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. An applicator comprising a shell having substantially the shape of the quarter of a hollow sphere and adapted to fit onto and enclose the ball end only of a users finger, said shell having merging open ends disposed normal to each other and a marginal bead projecting laterally outward from the opposite sides of the wall bounding one of said open ends, and said shell having an inwardly projecting substantially radial flange on the edge of the wall bounding the other open end.

2. An applicator comprising a hollow shell adapted to fit onto and enclose the ball end of a users finger, said shell having an open end into which the finger may be inserted and an open upper portion through which the fingernail may protrude, the opening in said upper portion having parallel side margins extending to and merging with the margins of said open end, and the wall bounding the opening in said upper portion having a marginal inwardly projecting flange adapted to overlie the flesh of the finger at the sides and tip end of the finger nail.

WILLIAM R. JUSTUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 463,309 Schulze Nov. 17, 1891 760,339 Marsh May 17, 1904 1,512,364 Rose Oct. 21, 1924 1,982,589 Bergstrom Nov. 27, 1934 2,131,077 Snyder Sept. 27, 1938 2,234,657 Smaldone Mar. 11, 1941 2,283,703 Stedman May 10, 1942 2,296,795 Landsman Sept. 22, 1942 2,396,548 Allen Mar. 12, 1946 

